My cousin is getting married next month and I am going to see her this weekend for a family lunch. Now I don't know about you but I love hand made gifts or something with a bit of personal thought to it. So I decided to make something simple but thoughtful to go along with her registry gift I buy at the store. Here is what we made and how we did it.

Every new bride loves a frame to show off at least one good wedding shot and if we can personalize it even better. I took a scrape piece of barn wood we had from a 1800"s barn in Connecticut - ideal as she is from CT. As I just had surgery on my shoulder my husband helped me out with the sanding and cutting. He sanded the piece down till we had a light wood color so that the writing on the wood would show up better. We then found some decorative trim and cut it to fit a 4x6 photo.

I painted the trim in one coat green and a second coat blue so that when I sanded it some of the green would show through the blue. I assembled the frame on the board after measuring out the exact center of the board. Then I secured it with a glue gun. I used the glue gun as the photo will be added later and I needed to make sure there was room to slide the photo in. I applied a thin line of glue to the outside edges of the trim and when pressing them to the board, I made sure to tilt the trim ever so slightly towards the glued side so there was that little space to slip the picture in.

One of my favorite new things to use is a paint pen. I remember years ago when doing crafts having to paint words with a paintbrush and having to redo them many times. The paint pens are so much easier to use and gives you a clean look. When writing words, I always trace out what I want to say in Pencil so I make sure not to run out of room. Since this was for a bride and groom I went with one of my very favorite love poems from E.E. Cummings - "I Carry Your Heart - I Carry it in my Heart". Perfectly suited for newlyweds.

I then took some cut out hearts and painted them with Chalkboard paint then wrote their names and wedding date. One was then hung by an antique nail from the top of the board and the others were glued down.

All it needs now is the perfect photo of the bride and groom - but for now I have added one from my wedding so you can visualize how it will look!!!